Rezensionen und Interviews der ersten zwei Wochen seit der Premiere

This is what the best of issue-based documentary films do. They challenge us with information we don’t want to hear, to accept. Cassie Jaye has become quite adept in creating and dispensing these red pills.

The production is startlingly good throughout, not just for an this genre of documentary, but for any documentary. I would say the extra money raised on Kickstarter was put to excellent use. The subplot dealing with Ms. Jaye’s own personal journey is interesting as well, and while I won’t spoil the ending, I will say I was left feeling quite satisfied. The cast of characters is deep and diverse, plus like I said, she also talks to a few rad fems as well. … I seriously cannot recommend this movie enough.

To put it mildly: It was an evening that contained a lot more than I ever expected was possible. … I’m happy to report to you that on Friday, October 7th, I witnessed 117 minutes of glorious, courageous truth-telling. … It’s a home-run for men and boys.

„I’ve never taken a men’s studies class.“
„I’m not talking about men’s studies. Every single … biology, math, science of any kind …“
„Those are all male?“
„Those are all male-dominated, because they’re all … all those books were written by men.“
„We were talking about gender studies.“
„Because there doesn’t need to be a male studies class because you get all the male you need in every other fucking class you take in college.“
„Ah, well, I mean, we just watched an entire movie about some of the issues facing men.“
„I’m saying that’s not an issue.“
„The issues facing men arent’t issues?“
„You said that there are 900 gender studies programs which are basically female studies programs. There are 900 of those programs in countless cultures. So there’s less than a thousand. Then you said there are no male studies programs.“
„There’s one, and that’s run by feminists.“
„Because there shouldn’t … why would we need a male studies program when men dominate every other subject except feminism? We all live in a male-centric world where men wrote the books that we are studying in college.“
„Right, but the books aren’t necessarily about issues facing men.“
„Mike, there’s like two issues facing men.“
„Ok, well. The proportion is, if there’s 900 female studies and only one male studies and it’s run by …“
„It’s actually still totally … the men are still completely outnumbering the women. Because every other subject in college is taught … and focused on men who wrote the books.“
„But they’re … they’re not …“
„We don’t even need to study men. History is the study of men. His story! That’s where the word ‚history‘ comes from. Those books are written by men about men. The whole fucking world …“
„I don’t know …“
„… is the study of fucking men.“
„Math is about men, art is about men, biology is about men, I don’t know about all that.“
„It literally is!“
„You …“
„Every single history book is about men. And their achievements.“
„I’m at a loss here. Math isn’t about men.“
„Who do you think wrote math down? Women?“

„Every single history book is about men!“
„Because throughout history, men were more willing than women to attempt to act on the world in big ways. We remember Christopher Columbus. But do we remember every other man who led a similar expedition and ended up at the bottom of the ocean, or didn’t discover anything? Yeah, no, we don’t. I don’t know if you realize, Gigi, but Julius Cesar was murdered. Leonides died at Thermopylae. Socrates was tried for impiety and corruption of the youth and he was forced to drink poison. Richard III. died in battle at Bosworth Field. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for nearly 30 years. Cleopatra and Boudica both committed suicide rather than be captured by the enemy. Marie Curie died from exposure to radiation. Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake. Indira Gandhi was assassinated while in office. Women who did big things through history and who often paid the same price as lots of the men who did big things through history, they get written about just like the men do, Gigi. In the history books. And the rest of everyone else, male or female, they don’t.“

„Before making The Red Pill, I was very like ‚tit-for-tat‘, you know, ‚I did this, that, and this, what do you have to show?‘ kind of thing.“
„And I could never bring up the fact that I was paying for everything because that would be …“
„Yeah, and I never even …“
„I didn’t want to, because it is a horrible argument to make. I am the person who’s paying for the rent and I’m the person who’s paying for …“
„Dinners …“
„Utilities, dinners, but you’re doing all the work at home, and if you make that argument you’re basically saying that you don’t contribute because you don’t make any money, and that’s just not what it is. You contribute in your own way, I contribute in my way.“
„And then, when I started doing The Red Pill, I asked myself if I could change roles with Evan, would I want to? And when I realized the answer was no, then I realized I was the privileged one. And … because he had so much on his shoulders, and I don’t even think anyone was telling you to, but you wanted to. You wanted to provide for me, you wanted me to be able to live out my creative endeavors. And you know, being in a creative field like filmmaking, you do need a partner that’s willing to let you do that and support you in that way, and that’s what Evan was for me. So, while making The Red Pill I … really the film is because of this man, because he supported my pursuing my dreams and my passion, and he went to work every day, working extreme hours, waking up at 4:30 AM, coming home at 11 or 12. Yeah, the film made me understand and respect you so much more.“

From the outset, Jaye’s film is tilted in favor of the MRAs she interviews and lacks a coherent argument, not due to her own internal conflict but because the film is built on a fundamental misunderstanding of the relevant terms, including „rights,“ „patriarchy“ and „feminism.“

Frankly, everyone involved could have used a vocabulary lesson and a cathartic viewing of „Mad Max: Fury Road“ to comprehend the ways in which patriarchal systems control resources to exploit both women and men.

If nothing else, The Red Pill is a thought-provoking examination of issues that rarely get an airing, from male victims of domestic violence to male reproductive and parental issues to the not-so-privileged side of traditional manhood, such as war deaths and dangerous jobs (over 90 percent of workplace fatalities are men). The personal stories of men who appear on camera are backed by solid statistics and studies.